Team

A native Coloradan, Dave Young is honored, humbled, and excited to serve as Colorado State Treasurer. Dave taught math, science, and technology at Heath Junior High in Greeley from 1975 to 1999. He worked for two years as an information architect with iXL, an international Web design firm, and another two years as a coder for a small programming company in Colorado Springs that performed DoD programming for NORAD. For nearly a decade, Dave worked as a senior instructor for the Information and Learning Technologies program at CU - Denver.

He never planned to enter politics, but Dave’s younger sister is challenged with significant disabilities and he could see the difficulties she had getting care. He learned his sister wasn’t the only one struggling to get essential services, and decided to run for office to fix a system that was taking advantage of the most vulnerable in our society.

Appointed to the Colorado legislature from House District 50 in 2011, Dave was then elected to that position in 2012. He was re-elected twice more. Throughout his career, Dave has seen first-hand how pivotal education and training are for opening opportunities for people. That’s why he was pleased to be appointed to serve on the following committees: House Public Health Care and Human Services, Education, Health, Insurance and Environment, Transportation, and Appropriations. In November 2014, Dave was appointed to the Joint Budget Committee and as the Chair of the House Appropriations Committee.

Dave earned his Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics at Colorado State University, and a Masters in Information and Learning Technologies at CU Denver. He is married to Mary Young, Ph.D., who has worked in the Greeley schools and neighboring school districts through the Board of Cooperative Education Services (BOCES). She has been a special education teacher, a special education coordinator, and a school psychologist. She is now the State Representative for HD 50 (Greeley, Evans, and Garden City).  Dave’s sister, who is challenged with intellectual and developmental disabilities, lives in Pueblo West.

Dave was sworn in as Colorado State Treasurer in January 2019. As State Treasurer, Dave has advocated for legislation that centers economic justice, including college savings accounts, small business loan funding, and the Colorado Secure Savings Program.

James Eke is the Director of Capital Financing for the Colorado Department of the Treasury and a Board Trustee for the Centennial State Liquid Investment Pool (CSLIP). A dedicated public servant with over a decade of financial leadership experience, James specializes in debt structuring, capital market expertise, and liquidity management. He is driven by a deep-seated motivation to serve as a financial advocate, optimizing the state’s financial resources for the people of Colorado.

In his current role, James leads the strategic management of Colorado’s diverse debt portfolio, structuring complex financing transactions, managing SEC compliance, and advising senior executive leadership and legislators on long-range capital planning. Notably, he co-authored a statewide feasibility study evaluating blockchain-based financing mechanisms, directly contributing to innovative legislative debt strategies. From 2020 to 2024, he also concurrently directed the state’s CLIMBER small business recovery lending initiative.

James’s career spans robust public and corporate sectors. He previously served as the Accounting Manager for the Colorado Department of Public Safety overseeing annually over $400M in federal grants across the Colorado State Patrol and Division of Criminal Justice. As Senior Manager of Treasury for Denver Public Schools, where he directed liquidity strategies for annual cash flows exceeding $1.8B and supported a successful $630M bond campaign. His foundation includes managing treasury operations for multinational corporations like Thompson Creek Metals and building materials leaders like BMC West and Builders First Source.

A proud Colorado native, James grew up in Lakewood and earned a B.S. in Banking & Finance from Metropolitan State University of Denver before obtaining a double MBA in Finance/Accounting and Operations Management from Regis University. He lives in Castle Rock with his wife, Melissa, and their family including several fur babies, and enjoys exploring the state’s natural resources through camping, off-roading, skiing, and golfing and the exploration of local brewries.